Princeton University Athletics
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Wrestling Hosts Penn During Senior Day, Will Then Travel To No. 13 Lehigh
February 16, 2012 | Wrestling
Princeton didn't exactly schedule a soft day to end its 2011-12 regular season. The Tigers will host Ivy rival Penn Saturday afternoon during Senior Day at Dillon Gym, and then will hit the road for a 7 p.m. showdown at the 13th-ranked Lehigh Mountain Hawks.
The Tigers will head into their regular season finale with a 7-12 record, including a 1-3 record in the Ivy League. Their lone win came two weeks ago, when the Tigers scored a 25-14 road victory over nationally ranked Harvard. Princeton is led by a pair of Top-20 wrestlers, including senior 157-pounder Daniel Kolodzik, who is currently ranked 15th nationally. Kolodzik, along with classmates Kurt Brendel, Tony Comunale, Andy Lowy, and Stephen Turner, will be honored prior to the Penn match as part of the Senior Day festivities.
Kolodzik is 26-7 on the season, and is returning to the lineup after missing last weekend with an illness. Both he and 149-pounder Zach Bintliff missed each of the three home matches last weekend, but head coach Chris Ayres expects both to be ready to go for both the Penn and Lehigh matches. Kolodzik could complete a perfect Ivy League season with a win over Troy Hernandez; he is currently 3-0, though he wasn't able to wrestle Columbia's Jake O'Hara last weekend.
Penn comes into the weekend with a 7-6 record, including a 2-2 Ivy mark. The Quakers have three nationally ranked wrestlers, including senior Zack Kemmerer, who is ranked 13th at 141 pounds. He will take on Princeton's Adam Krop, who is ranked 15th nationally, who leads Princeton with 28 victories. Both wrestlers are undefeated in the Ivy League, so first-team All-Ivy honors will likely be up for grabs.
Krop could also grab the top seed for the EIWA Championships, held at Jadwin Gym Mar. 3-4, with a perfect day Saturday. When Princeton heads to Lehigh, he'll take on 19th-ranked Stephen Dutton, one of five nationally ranked Mountain Hawks. Lehigh has a pair of second-ranked wrestlers in Robert Hamlin (184) and Zach Rey (285), while 197-pounder Joe Kennedy is ranked eighth.
| Princeton | Penn | Lehigh | |
| 125 | Garrett Frey (23-8) or Ryan Cash (1-5) | Karim Shafi (2-8) | Alex Abreu (1-12) |
| 133 | Joe DeQuinzio (5-4) or Andrew Hirai (1-3) | #13 Bryan Ortenzio (24-3) | #16 Mason Beckman (22-7) |
| 141 | #15 Adam Krop (27-7) | #13 Zack Kemmerer (18-3) | #18 Steve Dutton (13-4) |
| 149 | Zach Bintliff (13-12) | Steve Robertson (20-6) or Mark Pinero (12-7) | Shane Welsh (18-5) or Kyle Rosser (11-8) |
| 157 | #15 Daniel Kolodzik (26-7) | Troy Hernandez (5-17) | Brian Tanen (5-10) |
| 165 | Rich Eva (8-20) | Lorenzo Thomas (20-8) | Sean Bilodeau (14-4) or Brandon Hatchett (13-3) |
| 174 | Andy Lowy (18-11) | Ian Korb (14-14) or Canaan Bethea (9-1) | Nate Brown (14-5) |
| 184 | Dan Santoro (18-18) | Erich Smith (14-15) | #2 Robert Hamlin (22-1) |
| 197 | Kurt Brendel (18-20) | #10 Micah Burak (15-3) | #8 Joe Kennedy (16-4) or Kadeem Samuels (13-7) |
| 285 |
Charles Fox (2-7) or Robert Grogan (3-15) |
Steven Graziano (15-6) | #2 Zach Rey (19-1) |